Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
5-4
New Orleans
3-8
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Recap: Offensive outburst propels CSU to sweep over New Orleans
9/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Colorado State Rams put together a sterling all-around effort to sweep the New Orleans Privateers in Moby Arena on Friday night.
CSU (5-4) hit .500 for the match and forced 22 attack errors by New Orleans (3-9) on its way to three set victories by 10-plus points each.
Amanda Young opened the match serving for the Rams, who immediately made their presence felt. CSU scored the first five points of the contest, including a pair of blocks. The closest the set would be from there forward would be a 6-3 Rams lead, as CSU hit .583 for the period to clinch a 25-15 victory and a 1-0 match lead.
The second set started like the first, with CSU opening a 4-0 lead to start. New Orleans could again get no closer than within three points, and the Rams utilized seven kills from Sanja Cizmic in the frame to win 25-14 and take a 2-0 match lead.
CSU mixed its lineup around a bit in the second and third sets, and New Orleans was able to take advantage in the third frame, taking its first lead of the match at 3-2. The set would remain close early, with the two sides knotted at 8-8, but the Rams would go on a 17-6 run from that point forward led by four kills on four attempts by Kirstie Hillyer to secure the 3-0 match win for the Rams after a 25-15 final set.
IN THEIR WORDS…
"I guess I will start out by saying this is a match where we had a lot of blocking matchups that we can take advantage of and I thought that Katie (Oleksak) did a good job of getting the ball to places where we could take advantage of those. What I really liked, with the exception of serves in set 1, we kept the giveaway points down and when you do that you are going to compete with everybody you play. We did not hit a lot of unforced errors and we didn't get blocked very much and after set 1, and we didn't miss very many serves. It was a really good effort for everybody. Our goal tonight was to play with intensity from the first whistle to the end of the match no matter what I threw at them in terms of lineups and putting different people in. We wanted to play Paulina. She has not gotten enough playing time yet this season and she is a good player as you can see tonight. So I wanted to sort of dedicate her in this match and I thought she did a nice job. So really I thought this was a fantastic match in all accounts. It's a match we probably should win but I am really proud of our team and the way they played." - CSU head coach Tom Hilbert's general thoughts on the match
"We followed the scouting report, but also I think just mixing up the offense, and all of the hitters were on tonight so that really helped, to keep their block true to that position, and then I could just mix it up." - Freshman setter Katie Oleksak on the team's hitting efficiency and execution
"We wanted to get people in positions and roles they hadn't played. A lot of times that keeps your team alert, because now you have to talk about things more and communicate through the process and I think that was one of the good things that happened. So yes, it was good." - Hilbert on mixing up the lineup at times tonight
STAT OF THE DAY…
.500 - The Rams hit a season-best .500 for the match, registering only five attack errors as a team. Three Rams hit at least .500 while totaling seven or more kills - Sanja Cizmic (14-2-21, .571), Olivia Nicholson (10-1-18, .500), Kirstie Hillyer (8-0-11, .727) and Paulina Hougaard-Jensen (7-0-8, .875).
NOTES…
• CSU outhit the Privateers, .500-.034. New Orleans hit in the negatives in Set 2, as CSU held the Privateers to six kills against 10 errors during the frame.
• Sanja Cizmic led CSU with 14 kills, marking the fifth time this season she's reached double-figures in the category. She also hit at a .571 clip, a new season-high.
• Mariah Green got the most playing time of her career, registering four digs in the process.
• Jessica Jackson tallied the first kill of her career in the second set and finished with three on the night.
• Paulina Hougaard-Jensen made the second start of her career at middle blocker and starred for the Rams, recording seven kills on eight attempts with no errors and added five blocks.
• CSU had 10 team blocks compared to zero for New Orleans.
NEXT…
The Rams will continue the Omni Invitational with a pair of matches in Boulder tomorrow. CSU plays Chicago State at 1 p.m. MT, and then hosts Colorado at 7:30 p.m. The Rams and Buffs have not met during the regular season since 2010 in Fort Collins, a 3-0 CSU win. CSU's match against CU will be available on the Pac-12 Network.